The ritual was just finished, and like what his Lolo Juan has said, his third eye can now be controlled naturally. Sancho can open and close the Third Eye at his whim. He might have gotten used to the presence of ghosts so far, but things would be really bad for his heart if he always saw ghosts upon waking up from sleep every day.
"So, how are you feeling? According to some people who have done this ritual, they usually feel nauseous after. Are you not feeling any weird after the ritual?" Lolo Juan asked.
"Not really, no. I don't think I feel anything except I feel great now that I can open and close the Third Eye without any problems."
"Good to know. It would be really bad if you feel any side effects. It isn't ideal to have side effects most of the time, and I prefer things to happen smoothly."
Sancho reopened his Third Eye after testing the function of closing it. Despite gaining the ability to temporarily close his third eye, he has gotten so used to it now that it is kind of weird to not see any ghosts and hear them.
Upon reopening his third eye, a new ghost appeared not too far from them. A long-haired woman. She is drenched like she has been underwater for a long time. Her clothes have green stains that seem to be algae growing on the fabric. What is more terrifying about her is that she is barefoot, but instead of the usual foot, one can only see a rotten foot, being dragged across the floor as she walks. Even the other ghosts around were surprised as the new ghost was not a ghost living in the hacienda.
But Lolo Juan frowned and quickly started swinging his cane like a sword at the ghost. If one sees this normally, one would think that Lolo Juan is going senile, but with how Lolo Juan moves, it isn't the case, and the female ghost seems to also notice this and quickly slides away from Lolo Juan's strikes. It was like she was actively avoiding every attack he was making.
The other ghost also tries to help Lolo Juan by trying to capture the ghost before them, but before they can even get too close, the hair of the woman would shoot at them and quickly binds them in place, stopping them from even moving around. And that includes Lolo Juan, who can't move after doing it.
"Lolo!" Sancho shouted and was about to go and help, but Lolo Juan stopped him in his tracks.
"Don't come close, Sancho!"
Sancho is hesitant to come close, but it seems that even with the looming danger of the hair, he isn't afraid of it and is more worried about Lolo Juan and decides to defy his grandfather. Seeing the fallen cane near him, Sancho grabbed it and was about to use it to swing at the mass of wriggling hair to try and free his Grandfather. However, before he can even try to do it, Randolph drags Sancho away from his grandfather.
"Let me go!"
"Don't be stubborn, Sancho! If you come close to that ghost, there is a chance you won't survive the attack! Your Lolo is protecting you from it, listen to him!"
"But what about him?! He is being strangled by that ghost! Is there even a way to help him?!" Sancho is now panicking at the situation they are in.
"Don't worry, your Lolo is considered one of the strongest Albularyos, you don't need to worry about him."
But before Randolph can even reassure Sancho a lot more, a man started clapping as he slowly descended the stairs to the basement.
"Strongest indeed. And yet, he can't even move an inch after a few bits of hair tangled him up like this. Too strong indeed."
Everyone turned to look at the person, and Lolo Juan gritted his teeth the moment he saw the man approaching.
"I see now. Looks like the cultists were just lying low and pretending to have dispersed quietly back to society, but I guess they are just biding their time, huh?"
"And I see you have remained frail after your last injury. I doubt you recovered at all, right? Your body is still unable to fully use what you can do back in your prime. This ghost binding you right now would have been absolutely decimated in your prime, but seeing how old you have become, so has your time slowly claimed your life."
Lolo Juan chuckles. "Hahaha...at least I did not sell my soul straight to the demons themselves."
The man before them grins mockingly at Lolo Juan as the hair slowly descends on him and closes his distance to the man who is waiting for him.
"This is why Albularyos have been slowly disappearing all over the nation and are now treated as false healers and quack doctors nowadays. If you have at least grasped the power beyond what we can achieve, perhaps we would have ascended to something greater. Especially for someone like you, Juan, that injury you sustained back then would be nothing if you just decided to accept our offer."
"You have forgotten your virtues as an Albularyo, Gustavo," Lolo Juan spat the man in the face, but the latter didn't even flinch. The black hair wipes away the spit that Lolo Juan did to the man named Gustavo, like some kind of maid ready to serve the man.
"How pitiful. I have already abandoned my duties as an Albularyo, which also means that it doesn't apply to me anymore."
The man named Gustavo looked at Sancho, and the latter slowly backed off while holding the staff of his Lolo tight.
"I heard you decided to take in two kids just to train them as your successors, but it seems that I have arrived too early before they can even become one. Even the girl upstairs was just a regular civilian who couldn't see any ghosts."
Sancho's ears perked up hearing this, and he angrily tried to lash out at Gustavo, only for Randolph to hold him back. "What did you do to my sister!?"
"Oh, you don't have to worry, young man. Thanks to our tenet, we don't harm regular people who have no connection or knowledge regarding the ways of an Albularyo. Our only goal is to obliterate any sort of way that the Albularyos will rise again. And it seems that you are also quite lucky, young man."
Before Sancho could react, the man suddenly appeared before him in a flash, so that he didn't even have time to react when Randolph was shoved over to the side, while the man named Gustavo grabbed Sancho by his chin. Sancho tried to break away, but for some unknown reason, he couldn't even move. It was like his body refused to do anything at all in the presence of this man.
"You have awakened your third eye, but you have yet to begin any training related to the ways the Albularyo does their job. That just means you don't even have the qualifications to become one, so perhaps you can consider yourself lucky this time around?"
"Don't you dare harm my apo[1]!" Lolo Juan started to struggle with his bindings.
"Oh, you didn't have to worry, Juan. He is perfectly fine. You should be grateful that you haven't imparted your knowledge to him just yet, and he has yet to learn anything from you. If ever he learned even a single knowledge that would launch him on the way to becoming the next Albularyo, then he won't be spared today."
Before Lolo Juan can even say anything, a few strands of hair dart through his chest, piercing through his skin and stabbing him through his heart, causing Lolo Juan to slowly vomit blood.
"Lolo!"
Gustavo releases Sancho and returns to where he was standing earlier and smiles while looking at Lolo Juan, slowly losing blood and gasping for air.
"And so, the greatest Albularyo has finally ended in your lineage, Juan. All those who claim as an Albularyo will just be considered as Quack doctors soon. And soon enough, there is no one else who can stop our forces, as the ones who should have saved them are now forgotten and considered as fictional tales to make a horror story spicy and have a happy ending."
After Gustavo's little monologue, the black hair that binds Lolo Juan releases the dying old man to the floor, causing him to convulse as soon as his body hits the floor.
Finally getting to move again, Sancho rushed to Lolo Juan as the latter slowly grasped for air.
"Our job is done here. Our god will surely be happy about this news."
Without even casting a glance, Gustavo throws a stack of money to Sancho.
"I don't want to be harsh on children, so I would be kind enough to leave some money to help out with preparing for his funeral. And if you think that you would be hoping to see his soul soon, no chance I will have that and have him impart his knowledge to you. I already have his soul broken, and by the time he breathes his last, his soul will also perish. Farewell, young man, I doubt we will see each other again."
Gustavo started laughing as he stepped towards the door, followed by the female ghost behind, before disappearing like a puff of smoke, leaving behind a grieving Sancho as Lolo Juan passed away from the hands of a cult member of an unknown cult that would soon stir up trouble.
[1] Apo means grandchild in Filipino